USS Metha Nelson

History
Name	USS Metha Nelson
Builder	H. D. Bendixsen, Eureka, California
Completed	1896
Acquired	by purchase, 11 June 1942
Commissioned	25 September 1943
Decommissioned	25 September 1945
Stricken	24 October 1945
Fate	Sold to former owner
General characteristics
Type	Schooner
Displacement	464 long tons (471 t)
Length	156 ft (48 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draft	11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Speed	7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)

USS Metha Nelson (IX‑74) was a wooden‑hulled sailing schooner of the United States Navy during World War II.

The three-masted schooner Metha Nelson was completed in 1896 by H. D. Hendrixsen of Eureka, California, and hauled cargo, primarily copra and lumber, and worked as a cannery tender. Included in her credits was the portrayal of a variety of ships in several movies. A 1932 listing[1] shows:

Seas Beneath (1931) as the full-rigged ship Dolphin,
The Painted Woman (1932) as William Boyton's ship Southern Cross.

Later, she appeared in the movies[2]

Treasure Island (1934) as Captain Alexander Smollett's ship Hispaniola
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) as the ship Pandora (not Bounty which was originally Lily)

In 1938, MGM rented her out to a party including the celebrity lady Dorothy Cadwell Dentice di Frasso and mobster Bugsy Siegel who undertook an unsuccessful treasure hunt on Cocos Island (Costa Rica).[3]

Service history

Metha Nelson was purchased by the US Navy from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on 11 June 1942, converted by the Craig Shipyard, Long Beach, California, and placed on service 25 September 1943.

Charged with the identification of all ships trafficking in and out of Los Angeles, she lay off the city for the duration of her naval service, also acting as pilot ship.

Placed out of service on 25 September 1945, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 24 October 1945, turned over to War Shipping Administration a week later, and sold back to her former owner.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Metha Nelson at NavSource Naval History

"At the movies - Capitol". Monroe Morning World. Monroe, Louisiana. 1932-09-04. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
"SECOND BOUNTY LAUNCHED HERE". San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 7, Number 140. San Pedro, Los Angeles. 1934-08-15. Retrieved 2023-05-17. Formerly the Metha Nelson, the Pandora was reconditioned at Craig shipyard, Long Beach, originally for the filming of "Treasure Island."
Fogg, Clark; Schroeder, Barbara (2013-09-18). "The Countess, The Hunter, and The Scavenger Hunt". The Mob Museum, Las Vegas. Retrieved 2023-05-14.

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[Monroe_Morning_1932-1] "At the movies - Capitol". Monroe Morning World. Monroe, Louisiana. 1932-09-04. Retrieved 2023-05-17.

[San_Pedro_05-15-2] "SECOND BOUNTY LAUNCHED HERE". San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 7, Number 140. San Pedro, Los Angeles. 1934-08-15. Retrieved 2023-05-17. Formerly the Metha Nelson, the Pandora was reconditioned at Craig shipyard, Long Beach, originally for the filming of "Treasure Island."

[3] Fogg, Clark; Schroeder, Barbara (2013-09-18). "The Countess, The Hunter, and The Scavenger Hunt". The Mob Museum, Las Vegas. Retrieved 2023-05-14.